Charred Remains Discovered In Tamaqua Hotel Rubble

A demolition crew hired to tear down the Tamaqua Hotel discovered a body yesterday in a third-floor hallway of the building, destroyed in a fire that officials now believe was arson.

Firefighters had screened the ashes for days trying to find traces of Sandra Kopack, 32, a tenant of the hotel who has been missing since the fire on Sunday, which left 14 people homeless.

On Wednesday, they found fragments of what appeared to be bones, but tests on those were not conclusive. The body, found about 3 p.m. yesterday, was intact but charred and could not be identified immediately. Schuylkill County pathologist Richard Bindie was to perform an autopsy this morning.

Searchers couldn't get to the area where the body was found because it had been declared too dangerous. Using a bucket extension from a fire truck, they inspected the area from the open roof and through a window. "It was very hazardous," said state Fire Marshal Joseph Yozwiak.

The demolition crew, Lycoming Building Supplies of Williamsport, was hired by the building's owners and used special equipment to search.

"They went in knowing what we wanted them to look for," said Yozwiak.

On Tuesday, the borough ordered that the building be demolished within 24 hours. That order was stayed Wednesday, when the fragments were found. It will now be taken down "piece by piece," Yozwiak said.

Searchers will continue to look through the rubble for other remains until the body is identified, he said.

Yozwiak yesterday released a brief statement saying the fire was deliberately set. "Everything we have so far indicates arson. We won't give any further information because it may jeopardize the investigation," he said.

He said he doesn't have any suspects yet, but is talking with witnesses. "We have a lot of interviewing to do yet," he said. Any arrests would come through Yozwiak.

State and local police along with Yozwiak yesterday interviewed tenant Joseph Clausius for 2-1/2 hours. Clausius has described himself as Kopack's boyfriend and said he discovered the fire. Clausius wouldn't talk to reporters about the interview.

Yozwiak said he will continue to talk with all of the tenants as part of the state's criminal investigation.

Clausius, in an interview Sunday, said he discovered the fire in a second-floor bathroom after a smoke alarm awakened him. He said he tried to put the fire out, but the fire extinguisher wouldn't work.

He said that he "started banging on doors waking people up" and that Kopack ran upstairs to alert other tenants. Clausius said he then ran outside and told another man to call the fire department.

Tenant Cathy Davidson, who lived on the fourth floor, said she heard an alarm sound and ran out into the hallway.

She said she saw smoke and heard Kopack yelling, "Cathy, the building's on fire!" from somewhere on the third floor.

Davidson said she ran into her room and grabbed her shoes and a coat and ran out of the building.

Tamaqua Fire Chief Arthur Connely said firefighters had been called to the hotel six days before the fatal fire for a mattress fire but, by the time they arrived, the mattress had been thrown onto the street and the fire extinguished.

Eugene Moerder, who manages the hotel for owners Frederick and Cathryn Stuart, said he and tenant Raymond "Tiny" Koschak found the burning mattress and threw it out a third-floor window. The mattress was in an unoccupied room and the door was closed, Moerder said.